Finland's president allows for possible EU membership for Azerbaijan
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has allowed for the possibility of further enlargement of the European Union, mentioning Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey in this context.
As 1news.az reports, the head of Finland made the statement on October 26, speaking at the opening ceremony of the academic year at the College of Europe in Bruges.
Speaking about how he sees the European Union in 30 years, Stubb said that the number of the bloc's member states could grow to about 40.
According to him, he would like to see all the states of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom in the EU.
"As for other countries, such as Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, it will depend on how they develop," the Finnish president said.
Stubb called enlargement "the most important foreign policy of the European Union" and expressed the opinion that in the coming decades the EU will simultaneously deepen integration and expand.
At the same time, the Finnish president emphasized that his vision is long-term in nature and may seem too ambitious today, recalling that many current elements of European integration were also considered unlikely several decades ago.
